Radio review

Mean Girls (1Xtra), an otherwise grim documentary about violent young women, ended positively. It was, though, the most fragile bit of optimism you'll hear for a while. "I can't change what's happened," said one female young offender at New Hall prison. "All I can change is what happens in the future."

You wished her well, but the half hour that led up to this sentiment was crushingly depressing. We heard girls boasting about violence ("I beat somebody up with a stiletto heel and left him unconscious") and acceptingit ("It's become the norm"). They blamed drink ("If I'm that drunk, I can do it") and vigorously updated the image of fights between girls involving a bit of hair pulling. "It's bottles, straps, pieces of wood - anything that can do damage," said one young woman.

"One of my friends has been sliced," her friend added.

Experts spoke of the need for developing empathy and improving self-esteem with these girls, many of whom have suffered mistreatment, cruelty or at best dysfunction at home. "Just about every girl we get in here," explained a member of staff at New Hall, "has been a victim herself of some form of abuse in the past."